Fire As She Bears! 2nd Edition (2.1)

Fire As She Bears! - 2nd Edition (2.1) is a 2005 recipient of the Origins Vanguard Award

"It was actually here...that French shot crashed through the scantlings to decapitate men or cut them in two, here that splinters, as deadly as shrapnel, flew to shred and skewer human flesh, here that those untouched sweated and strained with tackle and handspike to load and lay these 3-ton lumps of iron every minute and a half of action, here that the smoke of discharge hung pea-soup thick between gun-stations to hide one from another, here at last that word came of enemy colours struck and so of respite from carnage, here that the deafened and battle-drugged survivors stopped from the work of killing to reckon their luck and count their friends among the living."John Keegan, The Price of Admiralty

Fire As She Bears! - 2nd Edition (2.1) is designed to fight miniature naval battles during the Age of Sail. Although this set was specifically intended for the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras, with modification it is also suited for simulating naval combat after the adoption of line of battle as the standard tactical formation (after the Anglo-Dutch Wars of 1652-1674). Any scale of ship model may be used from 1:2400 to 1:900. Some intrepid gamers have even used ships from Pirates of the Spanish Main® for FASB.

The game has been designed with ease of play in mind. In the rules, many aspects of naval warfare have been abstracted; nevertheless, overall fleet actions will result in historical outcomes. The game stresses command control and the chaos of fleet actions without written orders or excessive paperwork. Players are not required to write out individual ship orders as in other rule sets. Each player commands a squadron of several ships, or perhaps an entire fleet. Fire As She Bears! allows you to re-fight even the largest naval battles in a reasonable length of time. The unique variable initiative system adds a different tempo to the flow of the action, providing both fog of war and an air of increased tension. Many players report that FASB is ideal for solitaire play.

The 2nd Edition ruleset is published in PDF format. There are over 30 pages of rules, numerous tables and sailing charts, 25 pages of full color examples of play, three sample scenarios, over 80 pages of ship record sheets, and an Excel® spreadsheet for creating other ship record sheets. Included are the standard rules, as well as, optional rules for Forts, Night Actions, Fog, Fireships, (etc.) and special rules applying only to Frigates and Sloops.

Fire As She Bears! 2nd Edition is based on the experiences gained after FASB 1st Edition was published in 1999. There are substantial differences between 1st Edition and 2nd Edition. Players familiar with the original FASB should have no trouble grasping these 2nd Edition rules.

In this updated 2.1 Edition of the rules we have greatly reduced the download size (from 32 meg down to less than 5 meg) as well as sprucing up the graphics for a more professional appearance that gamers have come to expect from online PDF products. Please note that the rules in the2.1 Edition are identical to those found in the 2.0 Edition. Only cosmetic changes have been made.

I had the first edition, so I decided to update to this one. While I don't use it as a system, I would recommend it to AOS players.<br><br>
<b>LIKED</b>: The octagon movement system is intriguing. The idea of firing doctrine [...]

An excellent set of rules for fleet/squadron sized actions. The rules are well illustrated with clear diagrams and examples. Unlike other rules for this period they do not focus too much on individual ships - but there is enough detail to fight single [...]

Excellent set of fleet action rules for the Age of Sail. I like the fact it places the players in the role of squadron admirals, not ship captains. The games can go relatively quick, depending on the number of ships on each side, versus some rules wh [...]

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